Rivera Gets Hero's Welcome in Panama

Exhibition Game Is Secondary to Celebration of Retired Yankees Closer

PANAMA CITY, Panama—One last time, the thumping drumbeat of Metallica's Enter Sandman filled a stadium, and Mariano Rivera emerged from the bullpen for the long trot to the mound.

It didn't matter that this wasn't a real game, or that Rivera was only throwing out one pitch—a ceremonial toss to his successor as Yankee closer, David Robertson. The crowd cheered that much louder because Rivera was theirs—the skinny boy who came from a...